


Kageyama The Runaway

by bloopy



Series: Kitagawa Daiichi Family [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Brotherly Love, Gen, I love bromance, Knives, Running Away, but first some angst, cameos by other characters, kageyama and oikawa are step siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28616079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloopy/pseuds/bloopy
Summary: A misunderstanding in an overheard conversation leaves Kageyama doubtful of his relationship with his stepbrother Oikawa. The best solution for the 12-year-old? Running away.Epilogue part 2 is up: just some fluffy bonding between Kags and Iwa while they cook.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio & Oikawa Tooru
Series: Kitagawa Daiichi Family [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086242
Comments: 5
Kudos: 112





	1. Chapter 1

Kageyama blinked away the sleep from his eyes as he turned to look at his alarm. 5:09. He sighed annoyed that he had woken up almost an hour earlier, but he supposed that meant time for actual breakfast instead of just cereal.

After freshening up, he walked down the stairs, his sock clad feet making his steps silent on the wooden stairway. Faintly, he heard the sound of someone speaking. Ah. Toru must be awake. He made his way downstairs where the door to the office was slightly ajar. He was about to walk past and go to the kitchen when he heard his name. Pausing, he moved closer to the door and placed one ear against the door.

“I don’t know how to tell him Iwa-chan.

Yeah I know how much Tobio loves it, but I don’t have the ability to make money fall from trees!

Yeah I know, volleyball was never this expensive in our days. I just wish he was able to get into a better school that had the funding because at this rate I might as well start looking for a third job.

Of course we don’t have the money, not when I have a teenager that’ll eat me out of house and home who also somehow keeps breaking things!

Oh please you have no idea how hard it is to raise a child!” at this, Kageyama heard Toru’s voice hitch and the swallowing of a sob.

“I never signed up for this Iwaizumi I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing!

Of course I wish things were different you don’t think I cry myself to sleep at night wishing I don’t have to do this?”

Kageyama felt an icy feeling crawl up his heart. Did……Toru wish he wasn’t around? He didn’t know things were that bad! Toru told him not to worry when he broke that window by accident. But wait…..Kageyama remembered an argument they had a week ago about….he couldn’t even remember what it was about! But what he did remember was:

_“I hate you!”_

_“Tobio! You-you don’t mean that do you?”_

_“Yes I do. I hate you Toru!” Toru’s face had crumbled for a second before he resumed a neutral expression._

_“Well alright then…I’m sorry you feel that way.”_

_Kageyama had ignored the hitch in his brother’s voice as he ran up the stairs._

The next morning he had given Toru a hug and Toru had patted his head and made curry for dinner so Kageyama had thought they were okay! They should have been okay!

Kageyama began to shake as he took a few steps back. He knew Toru had planned on travelling to Argentina but when their parents had died last year he cancelled the plans……but Toru told him it was because he didn’t want to go anymore…..was it really because he didn’t want to leave Kageyama alone? Was he the one in charge of ruining his brother’s entire future?

Kageyama began to hyperventilate as his vision became blurry with tears. He sprinted back up the stairs and closed the door to his room hoping that he would wake up and it would all be a bad dream.

Had he listened for a minute longer he would have heard the next part of Toru’s conversation:

“No I've never considered giving up the idiot for adoption I wouldn’t be able to live with myself! You know I rant but I could never blame the kid for anything……I love him too much for that.

SHUT UP IF YOU MENTION THIS TO HIM I’LL KILL YOU IWA!

Leave me alone I’m going to try taking a quick nap before work.”

* * *

After half an hour of stewing in his room, Kageyama made up his mind. He didn’t want to be a burden to Toru any longer. If he was gone, he’d be able to live his dream of being a pro volleyball player and not have to work two jobs to support them. Kageyama nodded resolutely, he would travel to Tokyo and start a new life there, then…….then Toru would finally be happy.

He brought out the big bag they used to use for camping, and quickly shoved some pairs of clothes in there, his volleyball, and after some consideration, he shoved a picture of him and his family the day his dad married Toru’s mom a few years ago in his coat pocket.

He paused wondering if he should take his phone but shook his head quickly. A new life meant no communication with your old life so it’s better if he leaves it behind. Just before he left he wrote a quick note for Toru, so he doesn’t worry. Quickly scanning his room, he nodded and ignoring the panging in his heart telling him to reconsider as he quickly went down the stairs.

He paused in the living room and stared at Toru who was passed out on the couch, a small bit of drool trickling out from the corner of his mouth. Toru looked so peaceful in his sleep, but even then Kageyama could see more wrinkles on his face and even a few graying hairs. Kageyama winced thinking how stressed out Toru had been recently and how they'd been seeing each other less due to increased job hours.

‘It’s all your fault’ the voice at the back of his head said.

“I know.” Kageyama whispered. He can't believe it took him so long to notice things weren’t okay for Toru…he was the worst little brother ever. He sighed and looked at his sleeping brother one last time, and as he pulled up a quilt from the couch around his brother’s shoulder he whispered:

“Goodbye Toru.”

Kageyama made his way to the train station. He had made sure to also empty out his jar of money from the weekly allowance Toru gave him to spend on snacks. Luckily for Kageyama, he hadn’t been eating as much recently so he had a lot of money left over. After around 15 minutes of walking, he reached the train station and stood in line.

“Can I have a one-way ticket to Tokyo please.” He said while putting the money on the counter. The lady paused as she took his money.

“Hey kid, are you sure you want a one-way ticket?”

“Yes.”

“Alright well how old are you? You need to be above a certain age to ride alone.”

“I’m almost 13. I’ll be 13 next week.”

The woman paused. The child in front of her was a short and scrawny little thing wearing a backpack that was half the size of him and an alien jacket. She shook her head wishing their guardian had come with him because he looked so lost.

“Alright sweetie here’s your ticket. Go to platform number 6 and the train should be here in half an hour.”

The child nodded his thanks and walked away, the woman staring after him in concern.s

Finally on the train, Kageyama took a moment to rethink his plan. The train hadn’t left yet, so he could still go out and go back home….but then he remembered his brother’s silent sobs on the phone this morning and the voice in his head was back.

‘Oh please. I’ll bet he woke up overjoyed just now. Him and Iwaizumi are probably partying now that they don’t have to babysit you all the time.’ Kageyama nodded as he steeled his nerves. The announcer said they had five more minutes until the train took off, so he rested his head against the window and prepared himself for the ride.

* * *

Oikawa woke up on the couch with a blanket on top of him. He blinked a couple of times unsure how that got there before realizing that Tobio must've been the one to put it there. He smiled faintly as he thought of his idiotic little brother and decided that he was going to put in some extra hours to make sure he could get new shoes for his volleyball club as well as the other things he wanted. He took out his phone before shooting up and cursing as he checked the time.

“Tobioooo! I’m running late for work I’m so sorry I’ll see you tonight okay! Be good!” Oikawa yelled out as he found his coat and wallet and rushed out the door, not knowing that he was yelling at an empty house.

* * *

Kageyama woke up to someone shaking him lightly. He looked up at the conductor who was frowning down at him.

“Hey kid. We’re here. You need to leave so we can clean the train for the next ride.”

“I-I’m really sorry! Thank you sir!” he stuttered out before quickly exiting the train.

As he walked out of the station, he was immediately captivated by all the bustling around and loud noises of the city. So this was what Tokyo was like! It looked amazing with all the pretty lights and stores. The complete opposite of Miyagi. Kageyama nodded to himself, this is what he needed to start a new life, the complete opposite of what he was used to. His stomach growled loudly, and Kageyama decided before finding a place to stay he should find a place to eat.

After some walking around, Kageyama finally found a small little ramen shop that looked warm. He sat down in a booth and ordered some food as he took in the shop. Everyone was with someone else talking and laughing. Kageyama suddenly felt very alone.

He sighed before digging into his food. Now to think about his next move. He didn’t know how people got houses, but he supposed that if he kept walking around then he might find an empty place, after all that’s what he saw in Miyagi sometimes. As he was musing where to go next, a traitorous thought entered his mind.

‘I wonder if he misses me.’

Kageyama shook his head quickly. That was stupid he had only been gone for like half a day, Toru probably didn’t even notice he was gone yet. Besides, he’s supposed to be happy now……that was the whole point of this.

* * *

“Tobio! Guess who’s home early for once on a weekend!” Oikawa walked in the house with a cheerful grin. He paused noticing that the house hadn’t been cleaned. Sure he wasn’t picky, but he expected Tobio to do a couple of things once in a while!

“Tobio! Where are you! Why isn’t this place clean!”

No response. Oikawa rolled his eyes. His brother was probably playing volleyball and hadn’t checked the time all day. He walked over to the window overlooking the backyard and saw….nothing.

Oikawa was beginning to panic. Maybe Tobio was still in his room and decided to have a lazy day for once like a normal kid. Yeah…that was totally it. He totally wasn’t panicking as he took the stairs two at a time to his little brother’s room. The door was closed. He opened it and……

“No. Nonononononono. Tobio where are you?”

He scanned the room quickly before running to check the rest of the house. His breath started to come quicker as each room he opened ended up being empty. Finally, he went back to his brother’s room.

He noticed a paper on the desk. Picking it up, he read the short sentence scrawled in all too familiar handwriting, and collapsed on the floor, the tears flowing out without stopping.

* * *

Iwaizumi burst into the house and after checking his friend wasn’t in the couch, he ran upstairs to where Tobio’s room would be. In there, he found Oikawa curled up in a ball with a piece of paper clutched tightly in his fist. He was sobbing, taking big loud gasps to try and calm himself but to no avail. Iwaizumi sat down next to him and wrapped a hand around his shaking shoulders before gently using his other arm to pry open the paper clenched tightly in his fist.

“I’m sorry I ruined your life. I’m leaving. Goodbye Toru.” Iwaizumi read out loud. Oikawa began to sob even more before Iwaizumi decided to rub soothing circles across his back.

“He’s gotta be in town somewhere. It’s been less than a day so he can't have gone far. We’ll find him okay?” Iwaizumi continued to whisper until his friend was finally able to breathe again. 

“Iwa-chan…..do I even deserve to find him? I mean I thought I was doing fine! I thought that sure we fight a lot but isn’t that what normal siblings do? Does he really think he ruined my life? How horrible of a person do I have to be for my 12-year-old brother to think that he ruined my life! Maybe I was too harsh on him or or…” Oikawa began to hyperventilate again as he began to think of every argument he and Tobio had ever had.

“Oi numbskull. Listen to me. You did the best you could in a horrible situation. He never had anything bad to say about you when it was just us hanging out okay?”

“Of course he wouldn’t tell you anything bad about me! You're my best friend he knew you’d tell me right away!” Oikawa began to gesticulate wildly forcing Iwaizumi to grab his arm and force it down.

“Look. The point is we won’t know what he’s thinking until we find him okay? And we will definitely find him.”

“But you don’t understand. If I go to the police and report him as missing, then they’ll have to inform Child Protective Services. If they get involved they make take him away from me! I can't lose the only family I have left Iwa-chan!!”

“We won’t get the police involved. We’ll split up and search the entire town. We can even call Makki and Mattsun to help us okay you know they’ll understand. Now go wash yourself. You can cry again next time you see the idiot.”

Oikawa nodded leaving Iwaizumi alone with his thoughts.

* * *

“Rain.” Kageyama said to himself as it began to pour down. He mentally checked what he had brought in his bag and facepalmed when he realized he had forgotten an umbrella. That’s okay though, he would just walk under the cover of buildings until it let up. It wasn’t rainy season, so he didn’t have to worry about the rain lasting too long.

Unfortunately for Kageyama, half an hour later it was not only getting darker, it was also raining harder. He shivered as he wrapped his coat tighter around himself. If only he had checked the weather in Tokyo before arriving. He shook his head slightly as he decided to take a shortcut through an alley to what looked like a nice and warm bookstore.

He walked through the alley lost in thought, and before he could notice, he bumped into a person.

“Oh. Sorry.” Kageyama looked up at the man. He looked a little older than Toru, with bright green eyes and black hair with blue highlights.

“Huuuuh. Is that all you have to say kid? You got my jacket wet.”

Kageyama was confused. “But sir…..it’s raining. So wouldn’t your coat have already gotten wet?”

Toru always told Kageyama that he had no filter and needed to be more careful with his words or he’d get himself in trouble. Kageyama never understood what he meant, but when the man angrily grabbed him Kageyama thought that this was probably what Toru meant.

“You talking back to me kid?”

“N-no sir.”

“I think you were. Your stupid apology isn’t going to be enough. I want compensation.”

“I-I can give you the money I have.” Kageyama knew that he would have to find more money soon, but right now he figured that pleasing the big man was a better idea.

The man set him down and watched as Kageyama pulled out the rest of his money. Kageyama thought that he had a lot of money, but clearly to the man, it wasn’t enough.

“Is that all you have you little runt?”

“Y-yes sir. Please that’s all I have.”

“Turn your bag inside out.”

Kageyama turned it inside out. His clothes and volleyball fell out, getting dirty in the process. He thought that the man would leave him alone when he saw there was no more money but apparently all he did was make him angrier.

The man snarled and reached into his coat pocket. Kageyama saw something shiny and felt his blood go cold. The man had a knife! He felt his heart rate start to quicken as his palms became sweaty. Kageyama tried to calm himself down but his breathing refused to slow down.

The man grinned and licked his lips as he began to walk over to Kageyama, like a predator stalking towards his prey. Kageyama took a few steps back before he hit the wall. The man noticed and grinned even more, looking very pleased with the turn of events. Finally, Kageyama decided to do the only thing he could think of.

“HELP ME! HELP HE'S GOT A-” Kageyama’s voice cut off as the man grabbed him by the neck. The man was easily taller than Toru and bigger than Iwaizumi, so he had no trouble lifting Kageyama up by the neck with one arm. Kageyama choked as he desperately tried to claw at the man’s arm. Kageyama squeezed his eyes shut as he saw the man’s other arm move towards him. the last thought in his head was: ‘I’m sorry Toru.’

.

.

.

Wait.

Kageyama felt himself falling as another body slammed into the first man. This man was even bigger than the knife carrying guy. Kageyama watched as the new man quickly disarmed him and made the other man scurry off, looking like an animal running with its tail between its legs.

“Are you alright?” a deep voice spoke from above. Kageyama looked up at his savior, but before he could open his mouth, the shock from everything that had happened made everything turn black.

* * *

Oikawa paced his living room as Hanamaki, and Matsukawa watched. Iwaizumi was in the kitchen making something for the others to eat. They had spent the entire day searching the town to no avail.

“Yooo Oikawa. You think you should settle down buddy?” Hanamaki was starting to get dizzy watching him pace.

“Settle down? Settle down? You want me to _settle down_ when my brother could be dead for all I know!” Oikawa shrieked as Hanamaki held a hand placatingly.

Iwaizumi came behind him and smacked his head. “Trashykawa sit down and eat. You won’t be helping Kageyama if you starve yourself.”

After a few minutes of an intense staring contest, Oikawa relented and began to eat the noodles Iwaizumi made.

Later that night, Oikawa’s sleep was haunted by dreams.

_“Now Toru be good okay. He couldn’t get a babysitter, so you’ll be looking after Tobio. You can do that for me right? Even if it’s the first time you’re seeing each other.” His mom stood in the doorway, looking as lovely as ever in her evening black dress with her hair done up all fancy. In her hand she was holding the arm of a 6-year-old Tobio who was hiding behind the Oikawa matriarch’s legs._

_Oikawa, every bit the petulant teenager, scowled and went back to his videogames. He was supposed to go hang out with Iwa-chan and watch the new alien movie but instead he was stuck babysitting this little brat._

_He heard his mother sigh as she left him and Tobio alone._

_“What you doing?” Tobio spoke as he shuffled closer to Oikawa._

_“None of your business stupid. Now go leave me alone.”_

_Tobio frowned, his chubby cheeks sticking out and making him look more like a ball than a baby. After a few more minutes of watching, Oikawa felt the presence behind him leave. He sighed and decided if he was going to be forced to stay inside, he might as well finish this level in his game that he’s stuck on._

_A few hours later, he heard a crash from the kitchen, followed by crying. Scrambling up, he saw Tobio sitting on the floor, surrounded by broken glass and holding a bloody hand._

_“YOU IDIOT WHAT DID YOU DO!” Oikawa screeched. Unfortunately, his outburst only made Tobio cry more. Oikawa sighed and picked him up, placing him on the kitchen counter. He gently picked up the small hand and saw that the cut was shallow with no glass in it, so it would only need to be washed and bandaged._

_As he began to run the hand underwater, he muttered: “Why would you try to grab the bowls anyways. They're too high up for you.”_

_“I was hungry. You didn’t want me to bother you, so I tried to get food myself.” Tobio sniffed as Oikawa finished wrapping the injured hand. Oikawa felt a small pang in his heart. Looking at the child in front of him now, he could see that Tobio was a ridiculously small, slightly pudgy, sad little boy whose face was marred by tear tracks . Tear tracks because he was a horrible caretaker._

_Oikawa sighed and squeezed the injured hand lightly. “Alright that’s my fault. I’ll make it up to you okay. We can order pizza using my allowance money. You happy with that?” Oikawa wasn’t sure if Tobio even liked pizza but based on the smile that lit the kid’s face, it was safe to assume he did. Huh, Oikawa thought. The kid was….kinda adorable._

Oikawa woke up from the memory with tear tracks running down his own face. That idiot. When he found him he was going to make him whatever food he wanted for the next year. He sighed and tried to go back into his fitful sleep, hoping that wherever he was, Tobio was safe.

* * *

Kageyama heard some voices speaking. His head felt funny and his body felt sore, so he couldn’t make out all the words. He turned on whatever he was lying on and tried to calm his pounding head as he heard a man’s voice say something about a fever. That triggered a memory inside of Kageyama’s head:

_“Toruuuu. You’ve been in your stupid room all morning.” Kageyama was annoyed. Toru had promised to take him to the park today. It was the one thing they had time to do now that he had to work full time at two different jobs. Kageyama was looking forward to this all week but now his stupid brother wouldn’t get up! Having finally had enough, Kageyama opened the door to the room and saw….._

_“Toru?” he whispered, suddenly scared, looking at the sight before him._

_Toru was lying in bed, the covers kicked off showing his alien PJ’s to the world. That wasn’t the concerning part though, the concerning part was that his face was all red and splotchy, and his hair that he normally tried so hard to make look good, was lying limp on his head and covered in sweat. As Kageyama inched closer, he could see that Toru was breathing heavily, trying to gasp for air like he had just done a lot of volleyball practice._

_Kageyama put his hand on Toru’s forehead and winced, his brother was burning up. He tried to gently shake him to see if he could get a response. Slowly, Toru opened his eyes, but they looked glazed with fever and very unfocused. They moved around for a minute before finally settling on Kageyama’s face._

_“Tobio…” Toru whispered weakly. He tried to get up before he felt Kageyama’s hand on his chest gently keeping him down._

_“Stay in bed you idiot! You…you’re sick!” Kageyama was scared. He didn’t know how to take care of a sick person! Iwaizumi was out of town too so he couldn’t even come over to help!_

_“I’m sorry Tobio…..we can't go to the park today…” Toru whispered weakly, secretly disappointed in himself for letting down his little brother._

_Kageyama shook his head furiously. “Don’t apologize you idiot. Just stay in bed and get better.” He ran out of the room and after a quick, panicked call to Iwaizumi, he brought up some fever medication and water, offering them to his older brother who smiled gratefully. When he had taken the medication, he took a cloth and as instructed, soaked it in water before wringing it out and putting it on his brother’s forehead._

_Toru smiled softly at the sudden coolness before sleep overtook him. Kageyama spent the rest of the day taking care of his brother, and when he woke up the next morning with no fever and apologized for missing their chance to hang out at the park, Kageyama found that he didn’t mind at all, as long as his brother was better._

Kageyama groaned as the memory disappeared and he blinked at the sudden sunlight that was directly in his line of sight. He sat up with a fuzzy head and sore neck, before he tried to bolt out of bed when he remembered the events of yesterday.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he turned around noticing a man wearing a concerned expression on his face. He was a big man, with brown hair and a stern expression on his face that looked very familiar to Kageyama.

“Do not try to move. You are recovering from a fever. Your throat is also bruised from where you were held yesterday. Please try to rest.”

Kageyama wasn’t sure if he should trust the man, but he did save him yesterday. As he was about to say something, another man with bright red spiky hair ran in the room.

“Wakatoshiiiiiiiiiiii! Breakfast is readyyyyyy!”

“Wait Wakatoshi? Like the Japanese volleyball player?”

“Yes. I am Ushijima Wakatoshi. You have heard of me?”

Kageyama nodded his head quickly, before he stopped because the pain was back.

“You’re the young cannon of Japan! You’re so cool! You even played against my brother in high school!”

Ushijima and the other man looked at each other with curiosity.

“Who was your brother?”

“Better question is who are you kiddo?”

“Oh. I’m Kageyama Tobio. My brother-or actually my step-brother, is Oikawa Toru.”

The read headed man burst into laughter.

“Oh just our luck that we’d get Oikawa’s little brother here. Isn’t that hilarious!”

“Why were you not with Oikawa?” Ushijima asked once the red headed man calmed down.

Kageyama felt tears prick in his eyes. He didn’t know if it was because he felt tired and achy, or because he was frustrated, or simply because…..he missed Toru. To the shock of the two men, Kageyama burst into tears as he shakily tried to explain everything that had happened in the past day. Ushijima tried to comfort him by patting his head, and when that made Kageyama cry even harder, the red headed man, who introduced himself as Tendou, grabbed Kageyama in a hug and began to rock him gently until his sobs turned into shaky hiccups.

* * *

“Are you all cried out?” Tendou asked. Kageyama slowly nodded, accepting the handkerchief from Ushijima.

“I believe I may have Oikawa’s number. I can go check and call him to inform him where you are.”

“NO! You can't do that! He’s supposed to be happy now! I don’t want to keep dragging him down please! Just give me my clothes and bag back and I’ll be on my way….I’ve bothered you guys enough.”

Ushijima and Tendou exchanged a look, before Ushijima sat back down again.

“Tobio Kageyama. I have reason to believe that you may be mistaken. Oikawa was always passionate about volleyball yes, but anyone could see that his friends and family off the court were just as important to him. I think it would be better if you went back.”

Kageyama shook his head, although doubt was beginning to creep in his mind, he knew that Toru would be furious. When he said as much to the other two, Tendou sighed.

“Alright kiddo. Let’s make a deal. We’ll call up Oikawa and tell him that you’re here and if he doesn’t want you then you can stay here till you get back on your feet seeing as you’re sick right now. If he does want you, then we’ll tell him where to come okay?”

Kageyama thought for a minute before nodding. Tendou’s solution sounded reasonable enough. He waited with bated breath as Ushijima took out his cellphone and scrolled through his contacts for a minute. Finally, he put the phone on speaker as he pressed the call button.

The phone rang only twice before:

“Ushiwaka! Why are you calling me!” Kageyama frowned. Toru’s voice sounded exhausted and panicked as he continued speaking. “Are you calling because-”

“There is a boy here that claims to be your brother. His name is Kageyama Tobio. Would you like to know where he is?”

“Tobio! Tobio is with you guys? Is he safe? Is he hurt? Please don’t tell me he's hurt. Where are you right now I’m coming over right away!”

Ushijima rattled off the address in Tokyo and Oikawa hung up after many rounds of thanks.

The two men looked at Kageyama who had silent tears streaming down his face. “He wants me! He really wants me!” Kageyama was bright with joy. Before they could say anything though, his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed into Tendou’s arms.

“Looks like the fever’s back.” Tendou sighed as he lay the boy back down and went to get more cooling cloths.

* * *

Kageyama’s head no longer felt fuzzy. His throat still hurt, and he felt warm, but at least the fuzziness was gone. He slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed, was a pair of large and calloused hands, holding one of his own. The hands were touching someone’s forehead as that person leaned forward, breathing heavily as if they were asleep. Kageyama blinked again and the picture became clearer.

“Toru?” he spoke softly, not sure if he should wake up his exhausted looking brother.

Toru sensed the movements and raised his head, his eyes meeting Kageyama’s own. They quickly filled with tears as he launched himself carefully at his little brother.

“Tobio! Oh Tobio I’m so unbelievably sorry! I don’t know what I ever did to make you think this, but you _never_ ruined my life okay! You are the biggest blessing I ever had you idiot I can't believe I almost lost you!” Toru sobbed as he remembered hearing about how Ushijima had found Kageyama, the fear in his heart multiplying before he had finally laid eyes on his little brother, whose face was flushed with fever and had purple bruises peeking out of his shirt. He had collapsed next to the bed sobbing while Iwaizumi had stood next to him crying tears of his own.

Now his baby brother was awake! And he was talking! And the fever was almost gone, and Toru couldn’t be happier!

“I’m sorry Toru! I put you through so much trouble I really don’t mean to!” Kageyama sobbed when he saw his brother sobbing. “Please don’t blame yourself for anything!”

Iwaizumi stood at the door with Tendou and Ushijima watching the two brothers sob into each other’s arms. He smiled knowing that despite all the hardships, they would learn and only get closer from here on out.

Epilogue:

Back at their house, Oikawa sat on the couch with Tobio’s head in his lap. He gently carded his hand through his hair and just as his brother was about to go back to sleep he smiled cheekily and said:

“You’re still getting grounded by the way.”

And as he listened to his brother’s squawks of complaint and held up a hand to block his feeble attempts at hitting him, Oikawa laughed knowing all was right in the world again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue 2: 
> 
> Kags and Iwa make food for Toru!

Iwaizumi was in the middle of making himself a sandwich when suddenly he heard his phone ring, specifically with the ringtone he had designated for a certain pesky teenager. Rushing to the couch, he picked up the phone and:

“Kageyama! Is everything okay?”

“Hi Iwaizumi. Why wouldn’t things be okay?”

“Well….I mean you almost never call first, and after your little disappearing act to Tokyo last month consider me still on edge.”

“Ah. I apologize for that.”

“Don’t sweat it kid. So what’s up? Do you want some company at home? I know Trashykawa’s working late today.”

“He has a double shift so he’s going to be home late…..so I was thinking……doyouthinkyoucouldteachmehowtomakedinnerforhim?”

“What did you say? Take breaths between your words Kageyama.” Iwaizumi laughed. He heard what Kageyama said the first time, but seeing the kid flustered was fun.

He heard Kageyama take a deep breath. “Do you think you could teach me to make dinner for him?”

Iwaizumi smiled. “Sure. I’ll even show you how to make his favorite type of ramen. Give me half an hour and I’ll be over at your place.”

Kageyama said his thanks and bade Iwaizumi goodbye.

* * *

True to his word, Iwaizumi arrived half an hour later, his arms laden with groceries. Kageyama rushed over to help him and as they put everything in its proper place he asked:

“Iwaizumi. What exactly are we making that you felt the need to buy this much food?”

“Well that idiot has been working double and triple shifts all week right? So I'm guessing you’ve both been living off of pot noodles and junk food. Maybe the occasional egg for breakfast seeing as that’s the only thing you both haven’t managed to burn.”

Kageyama blushed because Iwaizumi wasn’t too far off. Kageyama meant to learn how to cook, but every time he brought up the idea, Toru freaked out and insisted he can't unless there’s an adult because of all the things that could go wrong in the kitchen. Unfortunately, this meant on weeks where his brother was very busy, Kageyama had to spend most of the time reassuring him that he doesn’t mind living off of junk food for a few days and that they’ll eat lots of veggies next week to make up for it.

After a few more minutes of unpacking, Iwaizumi laid out a game plan for their meal prep. Kageyama was impressed before he remembered that Iwaizumi had been cooking since he was even younger than Kageyama was now. Their first step was to make soup. Of course, Kageyama being Kageyama, only had to wait five minutes before a mishap.

“Ow!” he muttered softly, staring at the drops of blood that had begun to fall from his hand. Iwaizumi saw this and rolled his eyes.

“You’re just as bad as your brother. Unlike you though, the first time he held a knife to cut veggies we had to go to the emergency room because the idiot somehow managed to cut his palm deep enough to see bone.”

“Wait what! How?”

“To this day I don’t know how he managed it, but I had to stop him from playing volleyball for a month. Longest month of my life.” Iwaizumi sighed very dramatically making Kageyama giggle as his hand finished being wrapped.

Finally, the cutting of the vegetables for the soup was done. While the soup began to heat and simmer, they began working on the ramen. Iwaizumi showed Kageyama how to cut the noodles properly and thankfully, it went better than the attempt for soup.

After almost an hour of methodical working, Iwaizumi’s curiosity finally got the better of him.

“So. Any particular reason why you decided to ask me this today?” Iwaizumi leaned against the counter keeping an eye on all the different things cooking and baking. Kageyama had his back turned to him, seemingly very focused on stirring the soup. Finally, just as Iwaizumi was about to ask a different question to change the topic, Kageyama spoke so softly, Iwaizumi felt like he had imagined what he said.

“I still need to make it up to him for what I did last month. I know he forgave me but I'm not a stupid little kid anymore. He was hurt, and that was my fault. I want to start showing him how much I appreciate him I guess. Also this way I can make him dinner when he comes home tired.”

Iwaizumi felt an overwhelming sense of pride looking at the teenager he had known since he was still a toddler. Sure Kageyama may not have been the best with emotions, or expressing his troubles, but when it mattered the most he would say what he was feeling loud and clear with his actions, and this was definitely one of those times.

“Well. How about we meet up to cook more often hm? He’s going to have weekend shifts for a while, and I know that idiot would worry less if you were with me.”

“Well yeah but I don’t want to take up all your free weekends.”

“Pfft. You’re like the dorky little brother I never had. I like spending time with you especially because your older brother can be a total drama queen sometimes. Did I ever tell you about the time in high school when Ushiwaka had a practice match at our school, and he ‘accidentally’ dumped a bucket of paint on the guy.”

Kageyama laughed and listened eagerly as Iwaizumi told stories of his brother’s most embarrassing moments. In return, Kageyama regaled Iwaizumi with his own collection of embarrassing Toru moments, like the time he lost Kageyama in the park and brought home another child by accident, as well as many other stories.

Finally, it was evening time and the table was overflowing with food. Iwaizumi’s mother called and asked if he could run some errands for her thus after a quick hug and a promise to do it again soon, Kageyama was left alone with the pile of food.

Toru was supposed to arrive soon, but Kageyama wasn’t an idiot. He covered all the food because by his estimate, his brother was usually an hour late on double shifts because he tried to stay as long as possible to get more overtime.

Kageyama’s guess was proved correct when he heard the click of the door an hour later.

“I’m home.” Toru’s exhausted voice came from the front entrance.

“Tobio where are you? I was thinking we could order pizza if that’s alright with you? I'm sorry I don’t think I have the energy to coo- wait what!!”

Oikawa rubbed his eyes a couple of times. There was food? On the table there was food?? Like actual food? Not takeout food? But he definitely didn’t make it! He looked around in confusion before his little brother walked in from the kitchen carrying a pot of some delicious smelling soup.

“Welcome home big brother!”

“Tobio! There’s food!”

“Yeah. Iwaizumi taught me how to make it. Don’t worry! I’ll be able to take over cooking duties soon enough, so that’ll be one less thing for you to worry about!” Kageyama exclaimed hoping that his brother wouldn’t put up a fuss. He became slightly worried when Toru burst into tears.

“Umm….Toru? Did I do something wrong?” he cautiously put down the soup.

“Of course not you idiot! I’m just crying because I have the greatest little brother ever, that’s all!” Kageyama squirmed as Toru attacked him in a hug and refused to let him go. After a couple of minutes of struggling, Kageyama decided if he wanted to be released, he’d have to play dirty.

“Oh by the way Toru, Iwaizumi and I were talking. He said something about the banana sprite challenge and your principal?” Kageyama referenced something Iwaizumi said was one of his brother’s top 5 most embarrassing moments. He was sufficiently rewarded when Toru freaked out and let go of him to hide his reddening face behind his hands in shame.

“Noooooooo! That traitor Iwa-chan! I’m going to kill him Tobio what else did he tell you!”

Kageyama laughed at his brother. His plan for making Toru lighten up was a success, and he couldn’t wait to show Iwaizumi a video of the results.

**Author's Note:**

> yes I know that its a bit of an unbelievable scenario, but kags is a 12 year old who clearly has some issues with his self esteem and self worth. idk if I'll expand on this little AU but we'll see! Hope you guys enjoyed reading! stay safe!


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